Become a volunteer

Achieving Family Promise's mission of helping families experiencing temporary homelessness to achieve self-sufficiency and safe, affordable, permanent housing depends on you. Volunteers are at the core of what we do, and the experience of volunteering is an emotionally uplifting one that benefits both volunteers and our families.

There are four main ways to volunteer at Family Promise. Fill out the form at the bottom of the page if you would like to sign up, or contact Sarah Lewis, our volunteer coordinator.

WEEKEND DAY CENTER MONITOR

Volunteers who serve as Day Center monitors are responsible for opening or closing the Day Center, implementing guest guidelines, and taking phone messages. Volunteers commit to three to five hour shifts a few times throughout the year on Saturdays and Sundays and holidays. This service not only allows our families to continue accessing the Day Center outside of normal weekday business hours, but it also allows our professional staff to take a much needed break.

Volunteer monitors receive a short training session to prepare them for these responsibilities. Because of this training, we appreciate volunteer monitors signing up for at least four shifts per year.

MONDAY NIGHT CHILD CARE

Our life skills classes focus on preparing families for independent living. All guests residing in our transitional housing are required to attend these classes on Monday evenings to learn about budgeting, finance, cooking and a host of other life skills. During these times, we need individuals or small groups to provide care and/or dinner for the children while our adult guests are in life skills classes from 5:45 until 7:30 pm.

A background check is required for child care providers.

MAINTENANCE PROJECTS

You may have a skill that we need to maintain our Day Center and apartments. There are often a variety of maintenance projects to work on, including:

Day Center and apartment repairs,

refurbishing rooms,

cleaning,

painting,

landscaping and

washing vans.

EMERGENCY SHELTER HOST/SUPPORT CONGREGATIONS

"Is not this the fast that I choose? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house…" Isaiah 58:6-8

Family Promise’s Emergency Shelter Program offers an opportunity for a truly unique congregational outreach. Volunteers of all ages work together within their own congregation, among many in the community, to help bring about a real change for families who have lost their homes.

Where does a congregation start? First of all, almost any congregation can host families in space that is unused throughout the week (Sunday school classrooms, meeting rooms, etc). It takes planning, perseverance and passion - plus the belief that this is an opportunity for a congregation to engage in a truly transformational outreach.

For those congregations that don't feel called to host families but still want to help out, support congregations provide additional volunteers, meals and logistical help to host congregations.

The Basics

Volunteers are the heart of the program and range from people cooking meals or moving beds to those sleeping in the church overnight or playing games with guests' children. A host congregation will, on average, host three or four weeks per year, approximately once per quarter.

The emergency shelter network consists of 35 host congregations and 21 support congregations that provide space for four or five families (no more than 18 individuals, mostly children) to stay overnight for a week at a time.

During the day, volunteers from the congregations transport families back to the Day Center,where Family Promise's professional staff works intensively with the guests on a plan to move to self-sufficiency.

Social service agencies partner with Family Promise to refer families who are screened before they enter the program.

These opportunities allow families, groups, and individuals to work together. Volunteers are what make Family Promise successful!